American Greed: James McGill
is the start of a (fictional) episode of CNBC’s American Greed, a documentary series showcasing white-collar criminals. This episode discusses Jimmy's rise and fall.
- Affably Evil: Craig Kettleman, as always. He even starts to pity Jimmy's situation of being stuck with a much more dominating and famous big brother like Chuck, thanks to his own experiences with his wife Betsy dominating and overruling him.
- Blatant Lies: The Kettlemans are continuing to lie about Jimmy and their own misconduct, even though years have passed since they interacted with Jimmy.
- Cain and Abel: Jimmy and Chuck's brotherly dynamics are touched upon, but Jimmy is solidly portrayed as the "Cain" while Chuck is portrayed as the brilliant and righteous "Abel".
- Conveniently Interrupted Document: The video ends before the documentary can describe the events surrounding Lalo and how it will lead to Jimmy becoming Saul Goodman, since they will inevitably spoil a good half of Season 6.
- Dramatic Irony:
- Jimmy's descent into Saul Goodman is depicted as him just becoming greedy and wanting easy money, instead of the complex Protagonist Journey to Villain shown in great detail in the series.
- Jesse is mentioned to be missing in a segment, with the general public around this time also believing that he fled the country. Unbeknownst to them, he was living out a horrible existence as a slave for the neo-nazis prior to Walt's return in "Felina".
- Kim is presented as a morally upright and bright young lawyer whose romance with Jimmy made her into a Fallen Heroine (making Jimmy The Corrupter in the process). In reality, Kim already had a dark side (being a former shoplifter and implied Con Woman) and was a fully willing participant in all the cons they did.
- Chuck is mostly remembered as a brilliant and moral man who was completely justified in being ashamed of Jimmy, instead of the Big Brother Bully and mentally ill wreck that he truly was. Not to mention it was his cruel treatment of Jimmy that pushed him into becoming Saul Goodman in the first place.
- The Kettlemans present themselves as exploited by Jimmy's schemes and it is implied in their interviews that Craig's stint in jail was not for any criminal activity, but because he had insufficient counsel for his defense when he needed it. In fact, because Jimmy was able to smear Howard Hamlin's reputation so well to the point that when Hamlin died at the hands of Lalo Salamanca, everyone now believes the Kettleman's story of being victims of Jimmy instead of the actual criminals they really are.
- The Dreaded: The Juarez Cartel is said to be the most feared cartel of them all, owing to their ruthlessness and cruelty.
- Entertainingly Wrong: The general public at large believes that Saul has either fled the country or has been murdered by former associates Walt and Jesse to tie up loose ends. It's implied that the Kettlemans are some of the only people who believe that Saul is alive and out there.
- Foreshadowing:
- Howard Hamlin is not interviewed or even mentioned the entire time, despite his importance in the series. As it turns out, not only did poor Howard get his reputation ruined by Jimmy and Kim, he was murdered by Lalo to prove a point and his death framed as a coke-induced suicide.
- Kim Wexler is referred to in the present tense as opposed to Chuck, who died in a fire at the end of Season 3, and Walter White, who obviously died at the end of Breaking Bad. As it turns out in Season 6, Kim did survive the events of the series and didn't die a Death by Origin Story as speculated, but became an Empty Shell of her old self thanks to her guilt in Howard's death.
- Betsy Kettleman says that as long as Jimmy is free, he will continue to harm good and honest people. Viktor St. Claire, by far Jimmy's most evil persona, ends up robbing a cancer patient and threatens to kill an old woman for threatening to expose his true identity.
- Historical Hero Upgrade:
- The Kettlemans portray themselves as victims of Jimmy who were exploited and lied to, with the implication that the general public believes their claims.note
- Thanks to Saul's actions after his death, Chuck is now seen in a positive light as a responsible and honest attorney who had a loser (and later criminal) brother.
- Mood Whiplash: It's mostly a parody of the true crime genre, with foreshadowing the last season, but it turns to tragic Dramatic Irony for a bit in the Chuck segment. Everyone note remembers him as a brilliant man who was justified in being humiliated by his pathetic brother trying to be a lawyer. Only Craig Kettleman has any sympathy, and it's because he's dominated by Betsy like Jimmy was with Chuck.
- Noble Demon: Oakley seems to think Jimmy was like this at first, praising Jimmy's skill with words. Later, of course, he grew to disdain Jimmy after learning of Jimmy's true behavior.
- No Sympathy: As expected, none of the people interviewed (with the notable exception of Craig Kettleman) have any sympathy for Jimmy/Saul's situation and instead sympathize with Chuck for having Slippin' Jimmy as a brother.
- Rewatch Bonus: Doesn't spoil anything in season six, but Kim is treated as a Fallen Heroine as she quits the law and flees to Florida, Howard is notably not in the interviews as he's dead, leaving behind his utterly ruined reputation, the Kettlemans are treated as victims as it is inferred that Howard's ruined reputation supports the claim of insufficient counsel, implying that Craig went to jail solely through the machinations of Jimmy exploiting Howard's supposed cocaine use, and it ends with Lalo Salamanca coming to ruin everything as circumstances around him lead to Nacho's death, he kills Howard, and trauma from him leads to Kim leaving Jimmy and Jimmy becoming Saul.
- Running Gag: Keeps up the joke of barely concealed innuendo in-universe about Jimmy's Motor Mouth.
- Surveillance as the Plot Demands: The documentary includes conversations that were never recorded In-Universe. For instance, Jimmy's quick exchange of words during Lalo's bail hearing is presented as a dramatic phone conversation between the two.
- Take That, Audience!: The Misaimed Fandom that Kim has no agency and was settling/corrupted by "Saul", while Jimmy is just doomed from the start and Chuck was completely in the right, is now in-universe as well. With vast helpings of Dramatic Irony.
- Take That!: The episode lampoons the unfortunate tendency within the true crime genre to produce sensationalist documentaries of lies. While the basic facts are (mostly) correct, it still distorts reality by imposing a biased narrative onto Jimmy's motivations and actions and takes the statements of several Unreliable Narrators at face value.
- Unreliable Narrator: Most of the people who are interviewed have their reasons for painting Jimmy in an even worse light after his crimes are exposed.
- The Kettlemans are also criminals (and rather incompetent ones at that) but seize the opportunity to present themselves as blameless victims of Jimmy.
- Bill Oakley heavily resents Jimmy for being far more succesful as a lawyer, presenting Chuck as completely justified in his hostility towards his younger brother.
- Suzanne Ericsen is more fair in her assessment, but still throws shade at Jimmy's relationship with Kim.
- Averted by Rich Schweikart. While he regrets what happened to Jimmy and Kim, he doesn't hold a grudge against either of them so he just sticks to the facts.
- Uncertain Doom: Jimmy has fled to Nebraska to live under a fake identity, but the public obviously has no idea as to his whereabouts, with speculation ranging from Jimmy having fled the country to having been murdered by his criminal associates.
- Villain Has a Point: Despite her selfish reasons for saying so, Betsy Kettleman turns out to be completely right that honest and good people will become victims of Jimmy/Saul as long as he is free when his new identity of "Viktor St. Claire" ends up robbing a cancer patient and later threatens to choke an old woman.
- What Does She See in Him?: Ericsen says that she never understood what Kim saw in Jimmy, and the documentary itself frames Jimmy as not worthy of her.
